21 Things
by Nymph Du Pave
Summary: CLex: Chapter Three is up. Murders capture the attention of Pete, Chloe and, of course, Clark.
1. Chapter One

  
TITLE: 21 Things   
AUTHOR: Nymph Du Pave   
FANDOM: Smallville   
PAIRING: Lex Luthor/Clark Kent suggested; mere crush-a-lush   
RATING: PG-13 (vague, non-descriptive sexual content)   
SUMMARY: What happens when Clark get's bored with music and Chloe sorprano stuck in his head. This was supposed to be a short, but you know me. I can never keep these things short. SIGH   
DISCLAIMER: The WB, DC Comics, MillarGoughInk, Tolin, Robbins, and Davola [along with whomever else] own this wonderful show. The Muse controls these fingers. I do have a couple of bucks in that jar on top of my fridge. Can I buy Michael Rosenbaum? Just for a while?   
AUTHOR'S NOTE: First thing in a while, I know. But I am working on the third in the You've Got a Way With Words series (the sequel to Poetry in Motion & Flight to Neverland) and time has been an issue that I wish to irradicate. Um... the issue with time, not time itself... Uh, yeah. Anyway, it feels so good to be writing my CLex again. The main reason I have not written anything in a while is because I have yet to see the ending of Season Two, or any of Season Three. I want to know nothing about them until I buy them (season two next week!!) and so you can guess that my version of the boys if probably outdated. :( You don't have to read it, obviously. I just wanted to let you know, to warn you. Even after I watch all the epis, I have a feeling that this will be my ever-present fall back for the boys. Innocently in love, poor Clark not seeing what Lex could become, Lex not seeing what Lex could become... The good years before all the bad... And sometimes preventing all the bad.   
FEEDBACK: I cannot thank you all enough for repeatedly sending me the emails and reviewing my stuff. I do appreciate it, and I am so glad that many of you felt inspired a little by my stories. Please, keep emailing me, keep telling me what you think. I love knowing my words reach people.   
AUTHOR'S EMAIL: 

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**21 Things   
by Nymph Du Pave**

CHAPTER ONE

Clark stared out the window, Mr. Evinston's droning voice mixing in with the background noise of the lawnmower outside. Everything Evinston ever said was in this killer monotone that just bored the class to narcolepsy. 

Now Clark sat tapping his pencil and staring out the window, his tall frame slouching into the two small desk/chair combo that littered most of his classrooms. Honestly, he would prefer Evinston's monotone to the damn stupid song stuck in his head. And Chloe's completely off-key duet with Miss Morresette earlier hadn't made things any better. 

_"Sing from the heart, not from the mouth," he'd yelled over Chloe's screeching. _

"My car, my music, my stage." 

He reached into his bag and pulled out the jewelcase, glad Chlo hadn't noticed when he jacked the CD as they were getting out of her car. Out of boredom he pulled out the booklet inside and turned to the song she had been listening to on repeat. There had been a few lyrics that he'd not been able to decipher on the ride to school. 

**ALANIS MORISSETTE LYRICS   
"21 Things I Want In A Lover"**

_Do you derive joy when someone else succeeds?   
Do you not play dirty when engaged in competition?_

Clark squirmed in his chair a little. Thoughts of his best friend interuppted his reading. Hmmm... Alanis's idea wasn't really... Well... 

Dark eyes haunted him all the time. Eyes that played very dirty and it bothered Clark that it happened. Eyes he wanted to see himself in. But so much was in the way. 

_Do you have a big intellectual capacity but know   
That it alone does not equate wisdom?   
Do you see everything as an illusion?   
But enjoy it even though you are not of it?   
Are you both masculine and feminine?_

Oh, hell yeah. That was one thing that Lex was, and Clark was only a friend - though sometimes he had this warm fuzzy feeling when the young Luthor looked at him in certain ways. A feeling that told him friends was not all that Lex wanted to be. 

_politically aware?   
And don't believe in capital punishment? _

These are 21 things that I want in a lover   
Not necessarily needs but qualities that I prefer 

Do you derive joy from diving in and seeing that   
Loving someone can actually feel like freedom? are you funny?   
self-deprecating? like adventure? and have many formed opinions? 

These are 21 things that I want in a lover   
Not necessarily needs but qualities that I prefer   
I figure I can describe it since I have a choice in the matter 

She had a choice? Had Clark missed that memo? Had that lesson in the womb - or whatever he came from - been skipped? He knew for a fact that he had NO choice whatsoever. What he felt for Lex was a punishment in ways that he could never have imagined when he's been infatuated with Lana. What he now felt for Lex made his previous feelings for Lana look like a chase around kindergarten recess. He wanted so much, too much, and he knew this wasn't alien, this was a very human influence making him feel this way. A very sexy, bald, soft-looking human influence. And all Clark wanted was to hug him. 

But he hadn't chosen to want Lex. He would have never been that smart or obscure. He had been after _Lana_ for godsakes. Could he have been more MTV? 

_These are 21 things I choose to choose in a lover _

I'm in no hurry I could wait forever   
I'm in no rush cuz I like being solo 

Oh, damn, he was **so** in a hurry, didn't want to wait any damn longer, and when it came to Lex, there was nothing more that Clark hated than being solo when he could be part of a duo. 

_There are no worries and certainly no pressure in the meantime_

So many worries, so much pressure. Worries about the way that Lex might or might not feel, about hiding every thing from his already too intrusive folks, about his friends and how they might react, worries about the possibility of sex and of how exactly he would keep his true self from Lex once they became something - not that he would ever be that lucky - only knowing that he could barely keep it from the man now... 

_I'll live like there's no tomorrow _

Are you uninhibited in bed? more than three times a week?   
Up for being experimental? 

He was sure Lex was all of the above. 

Clark shut his eyes and had to keep his hands from tightening too much and crumpling up Chloe's pristine booklet. He had imagined so many things, wanted so many things. He'd kept himself quite occupied in his Fortress of Solitude, that was when he was not up there with Lex in a constant state of idiotic teenage hope. 

_are you athletic?   
Are you thriving in a job that helps your brother? are you not addicted?   
...curious and communicative..._

That was all. That was the song. And it was all wrong. It wasn't Lex at all. 

Clark stirred from his deep thought to see the rest of the class pulling out their bags, going through papers and talking amongst themselves. It was time for the 15 minute study session before the end of Evinston's class. The perfect time for Clark to correct the song. 

He took out his green, battered Composition Notebook, opening it without spilling too much of it's scattered contents. A blank page stared him in the face with promise. This was going to be fun.   
  
**To be continued...**


	2. Chapter Two

  
Author: Nymph Du Pave   
Title: 21 Things   
Rating: PG-1   
Email Address:   
Note: Pete has never discovered Clark's secret. Oh, and I spelled Morissette wrong in the first chapter.   
Feedback: This story feels so weird. Do any of you guys know what it is missing?

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**21 Things   
by Nymph Du Pave**

CHAPTER TWO 

"I don't get it, Pete. He's been writing in that notebook all day. And he keeps muttering to himself and scratching things off." 

"Yeah, I saw him rip a whole page out earlier." 

"I've never seen him so involved in something. I mean even walking from class to class he's looking through the pages. So what do you think he's up to?" 

"Who knows?" 

"Maybe he's writing Lana a little love letter." 

Clark couldn't believe the bitterness he heard in Chloe's voice, despite the bond she and Lana now shared. She still held that over everything, the fact that Clark had always been romantically interested in the ex-cheerleader. And it wasn't like he could correct her thoughts. His friends could never know the truth about his feelings. 

Pete's evil laugh followed her comment, distinguished from his other laughs only by it's shortness. "I doubt that very much, Chlo." 

Confused, Clark stopped writing and looked back at Pete, 6 tables behind him and 2 to the left. Because his last name started with a "K" he'd always been separated from friends, except for Lana who used to be torture to sit near until she stopped wearing the necklace. Then she was a torture for another reason, until recently his feelings for her had dissapated. 

Chloe and Pete of course had the perfect last names and always sat close if not right next to each other whenever they shared a class with seats designated by alphabetical order. 

_He doubts it very much? What the hell does he mean by that?_

"What is that supposed to mean?" Chloe whispered, echoing Clark's thoughts and oblivious to his sudden attention. 

Pete nodded to Clark as both a hello and as a warning to Chloe. 

Clark turned back around before Chloe met his eyes. How would she take his loss of interest in Lana and attraction/adoration/obsession of Lex? As a complete and total oblivious attitude to her beauty and kindness? Because that wasn't the case. 

"Man how does he do that?" Pete whispered. "All the time." 

"Yeah, I know. It's a little freaky. Like he can hear us talking or something." 

"I know. Like he's got super hearing." 

Clark smiled and turned back to his list. ****

"21 Things I Want in A Lex Lover" __

Do you derive joy when someone else I succeed?   
Do you play dirty when engaged in dangerous competition?   
Do you have a big intellectual capacity and know   
That money alone does not equate life?   
Do you see everything I try to hide?   
Do you have more patience with me than most?   
Are you both masculine and feminine? politically scientifically interested?   
And don't believe in sharing others secrets? 

It looked horrible to him. He ripped out another page and balled it up, tossing it into the waste basket next to him. He looked flipped back to his list of things he liked about Lex. There were much more than 21 items. 

There was something wrong with the song, but he couldn't place his finger on it. Just something he wasn't thinking of. 

The bell rang and the class began to disperse. Clark grabbed his stuff and tried to slip out before his friends could catch up with him. 

"Hey, Clark." 

He turned around, ready with an excuse about needing to get the to the bathroom right then, when he met Chloe's eyes. Because she was shorter than him she looked too damn cute, looking up at him, eyes a little wider and sadder than usual, hair kept out of her beautiful face. 

_Damn it, Chloe._

"Yeah?" 

She started to walk along the hall, towards both of their next classes. "What's this new project?" 

"New project?" 

"Yeah. Whatever the thing in your notebook is. I've seen you writing in it all day." 

"Oh, that..." He thought for a minute. He could tell her the partial truth because that sounded better than full out lying. But he didn't want her to think it was about Lana. At the same time he didn't want her to think it was about her or know it was about Lex. 

"A couple of things. I am making a list and-" 

"Checking it twice?" 

"And writing a song." 

"What kind of list is it?" 

"A list of things." 

Chloe stopped short and looked up at him with her dark 'big duh there, Kent' eyes. Chloe's words could sear when she wanted them to, but her looks could always make any man stutter. 

"Okay, okay. A list of things, you know, that I like." 

"You mean like cheese and puppies and stuff?" 

"Sort of." 

"And the song?" 

"Is about that list." 

He saw her trying to hold back a laugh. "You're making a song using a list of things you like?" 

"Yes." 

"You're adorable, you know that?" 

He smiled and resituated his backpack because she meant that as more of an insult than any sort of friendly compliment. "Thanks." 

"See you during lunch." 

He nodded to her and headed towards his science class feeling better about about the day even though he never really felt that bad to begin with. That was something Chloe could always do, no matter what. Just talking to her was a day-brightening activity. 

Now, he just had to concentrate on the song before lunch because lunch and 5th period were going to be all about the Torch. Since he was on the newspaper's staff he had a free hour to work on the paper. And he had an article due _yesterday_ that he wasn't quite done with. 

As he entered Berklin's science class he saw Pete walking passed the lockers looking at him. A very serious expression, one of contemplation and when Clark's eyes met his, he looked away fast. 

"Hmm." Clark stopped in the doorway, curious, but he was almost late and you had to be in your seat by the time the bell rang, or you were considered tardy. 

He knew though that he would have to talk to Pete. Something was up.   
  
**To be continued...**


	3. Chapter Three

  
Author: Nymph Du Pave   
Title: 21 Things   
Rating: PG-13 [I don't know what the hell PG-1 is ;)]   
Email Address:   
Note: Help!! What is the most recent Dean's name?   
Feedback: I enjoy feedback! So gimme more!! :) Here, email or leave a comment on my livejournal!

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**21 Things**   
by Nymph Du Pave 

CHAPTER THREE 

"Three more murders around the Lenshire Woods. Just outside of Smallville." 

Clark looked up from his forced editorial on keeping the school campus clean. He was having a hard time writing something that any of the students would find interesting. "Wait, Lenshire Woods. That's just _inside_ of Laurinburg, isn't it?" 

Chloe nodded. 

"Then you can't write about it, Chlo," Pete began, his tone cautious. He didn't want Chloe to get into another fight with the dean but at the same time didn't want to awaken the stir of a challenged Sullivan. 

"Oh, yes I can." 

Pete shook his head and went back to his article on last week's game. "Fine. I am not a part of this." 

"They were teens, Pete. Teen girls. Every newspaper out there is screaming about it." 

"And so the dean wants Smallville High to be a slight haven, a reprieve from the blood and guts you see on television and in all the other newspapers." 

"Are you advocating this kind of blanket censorcism?" 

"Of course not, I am just saying this is a place where teens should feel safe. Seeing this stuff splattered all over the front page at school as well as everywhere else we go... It's just not giving us a haven anywhere." 

"You sound just like the dean." 

Clark allowed himself a small smile behind his seventeen inch monitor. Ever since their last arguement she refused to call him anything but "the dean". 

"It's a good point he's making, Chloe." 

"No, it isn't. People need to be warned, teens need to be on the lookout." 

"Chloe," Clark started, not sure why he was risking the intrusion knowing it could end in a possible beheading. "Have you seen the papers? Turned on a television? Listened to the radio? Those three girls are all that people are talking about anywhere." 

"Teenagers often ignore current events, Clark." 

"Not like these. Murders, teen girls, talk all over the town... Did you even hear half the conversations at lunch?" 

"Who's side are you on, Kent?" 

He sighed and covered his face with his hands. Chloe liked her job way too much. 

Pete stood up. "It's up to you, Chloe, but don't turn this into another one of your Meteor Monsters, okay?" 

Clark was surprised that Chloe's eyes could narrow any more than they were. "What are you trying to say, Pete?" 

"Just that you always look for the worst possible reason for things." 

"I happen to think that a person killing on nothing but his own instincts is a lot more disturbing than someone with a disease caused by meteorites. I think that _that_ would be the 'worst possible reason for things.' 

Pete looked to Clark, but he just shrugged. "She's got a point there." 

"Fine, do whatever you want, Chloe. But I think that there should be one place where the kids in this school, myself included, can look to a newspaper and not find horror stories. At least not while that's all you see anywhere else." 

Pete grabbed his bag and headed out. 

Chloe turned to Clark. "What's wrong with him?" 

Clark sighed. "His little sister is starting highschool next year. She's a teenager. 13." 

Chloe nodded. "Yeah, okay. Why is it affecting him now?" 

"Didn't you read all of the newest article?" 

Chloe blushed but shook her head. "I hadn't gotten to it really. I was just tired of hearing it everywhere else but in my own rag." 

Clark nodded. "Well, the last murder victim was 13. From Laurinburg Middle." 

Chloe was quite for a moment. "Oh." 

"And Pete has some information that was not released in the papers." 

Chloe frowned. "How is that?" 

Clark cleared his throat, unsure of whether or not to tell Chloe this. Would she feel obligated to put this information in the Torch? Pete had told him at lunch and there had been that kind of 'don't-tell-Chloe' look in his eye. But Chloe _needed_ to know. 

"What is it, Clark? How did he get info not in the papers?" 

"Because there are so few of them, all of the black families in neighboring counties have been warned personally by the police departments." 

"The last girl was black?" 

"All three of them have been."   
  
**To be continued...**


End file.
